Category: ALL

What Memorial Day Means to me

Memorial Day comes every year and every year I get Friday and Monday off from work. It is awesome! But wait…. why do I get time off? It is important to remember the reason behind this federal holiday. I took time this year to think about what Memorial Day means to me and our country and reflected by drawing on the chalk wall.

Memorial day is when we stop to honor and remember our fallen soldiers who have served to protect our country.

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

The significance of this image really stands out. It references the photograph from WWII of US Marines raising a flag on top of Mount Suribachi.

Learn more about this image HERE

25 May ’19
Delta Railroad Crossing

We created chalkboards for an event with Delta for their employees. Zach focused on the construction and I created the designs. We work well as a team that way!

20 Oct ’18
3D Cupcake

I created a 3D cupcake in Clarkesville TN for the Art Linc Festival.

I measured to make sure the cupcake would appear 4ft tall.

The raspberry on top was drawn 10ft long!

Chalk baby was not pleased.

30 Sep ’18
3D Goldfish

Lachlan’s favorite snack is goldfish. One of the few words he knows is fish. He loves the fish tank we have and he loves aquariums. Let’s just say the baby is all around fishy! We wanted to create an imaginative piece where his favorite snack comes to life around him.

We had to prime this very slick surface with chalk paint.

Close up of the surface. It was very hard to work on.

It rained most of day one but we worked hard the second day to complete the art just in time. I was focused on drawing the 3D face. It was stretched so that made it complex to draw. What my mind wanted to see was not what I was drawing from my grid.

We were able to get some great shots posing on the goldfish box and the fish.

I had to point out the amazing cake from the artists reception. This is one of my favorite festivals. Everyone was so nice and accommodating.

The beautiful chalk cake!

10 Sep ’18
Chalk at Camp

On the first day we did a demo and let the campers join in where they wanted.

Day two was all about drawing on your own. We asked the campers what they were interested in drawing and printed images for them to reference. Some even sketched out ideas the night before.

I designed a camp themed 3D chalk drawing for the kids to color in on the last day as a final lesson.

Everyone enjoyed coloring in the image. It was challenging to match up the grid with the actual drawing but with some help they all figured it out. The colors were not exact but the campers made it their own and had fun doing it.

19 Jul ’18
Valentine’s Day Treasure Truck

We often collaborate with Colony Square on chalk projects. They are working to reimagine their prominent location in order to make it a work, play, live environment in the heart of Midtown Atlanta. My favorite spot is next to the Midtown sign and we were thrilled when we were invited to chalk next to it. This project was led by Meg Mitchell of Everlong Creative. We created a chalk drawing to promote the Amazon Treasure Truck for Valentine’s Day. We were able to bring all that we love about Atlanta into one drawing to show how Atlanta loves Amazon. Meg came up with the idea and I put together a few images to reference. My mock up is below.

Design Concept

We worked with this mock up as a guide. We did not draw everything but included some prominent Atlanta locations. The composition evolved as we collaborated on site. Meg made the heart into a peach behind the Colony Square logo which was the perfect touch. I focused on the Chick-fil-a Cow and the tiger shark from the GA Aquarium. We’ve also chalked another project for the Ga Aquarium.

Zach surprised me with flowers and chocolates from the Amazon Treasure Truck! I had no idea he actually got it for me and was not expecting it. He is so sweet!

17 Feb ’18
Arbor Lakes Chalk Fest 2017

Zach and I created a large 10x20ft mural in Arbor Lakes this past weekend. We enjoyed chalking alongside so many talented people. This image was a compilation of child fairies at different ages. It represents our future son and all the possibilities. And of course it would not have been complete without a little magic.

We had some challenges with the heat, the wind and the rain but we pulled through. After the storm, Zach had to redraw two of the children and I had to touch up the face. We were lucky as most other artists’ pictures were washed away completely.

This festival is amazing and the organizers Nancy and Shawn are wonderful. Kris and and our sponsor Patty were very helpful as well. We could not have had the event without them. I look forward to next year and the arrival of our son!

12 Jun ’17
Marietta Chalktoberfest 2016

This year at Chalktoberfest I had the honor to recreate an image of one of my favorite artists Johannes Vermeer. I chose to draw Milkmaid. The contrast of blues and yellows add mystery to this work. I really enjoy how vermeer captures everyday life and makes it intriguing. I was hesitant to do the old masters theme but I am glad that I had the chance to put myself in their shoes for a few days. I found myself wondering how Vermeer would approach the creation of this piece. Did he draw the milkmaid first or the room she is in? Was he cold and sore like I was while drawing on the ground for two days? I really enjoyed mixing my blue pastels to create just the one that would cause her to pop off the ground. I never thought much about the process but recreating it really puts it into perspective. I made sure not to crop out the negative space in the top right. It really evokes the mood in the painting.

I had a wonderful time chalking and an even better time reuniting with my fellow artists. Chalk artists from all over the country came to create old master drawings. We spent the evenings playing games and singing. Chalk art was the glue that brought us all together. It is nice to learn from each other. There are many chalk art masters like Joel Yao, Chris Carlson, Bridget Lyons, and the Chalk Guys. So much talent in one spot.

Zach and I were on the news to introduce the festival.

Images of Marietta Chalktoberfest Chalk Art of Vermeer’s Milkmaid

17 Oct ’16
2015 Year In Review : Jessi & Zach

Jessi started off the year in a new office in Midtown. At Razorfish she worked with clients such as AT&T, Delta and she recently helped to launch the new Bridgestontire.com website. She married her one true love in May and went on the trip of a lifetime; read about our travels on ZachandJessi.com. She participated in her first international chalk festival in Sarasota Florida and created many large pieces throughout the year. She had some framed drawings on display in a local art show, Women Who Rock. She influenced some high school girls through the Women in Technology program by showing them what she does and giving them an intro to web design and agency life.

This was a big year for Zach. He started a new job at HUGE still doing QA and now Jessi and Zach work at competing digital agencies. He now can walk to work with his beautiful wife. Zach married his love on May 2nd and took her away to explore foreign lands. When he got back he went to his 11th summer of Camp Sunshine and helped kids with cancer have an awesome week. Zach officiated 6 weddings this year; that’s a record. He successfully took a course in Front End Web Dev and built Daphne a website. He read all the Mrs.Marvel comic books and is plotting to save the world with his Skybears. Zach chalked his own square and has gained some mad hand-lettering skills. Together we hit the ground running with the Georgia Chalk Artists Guild and hope to go to more festivals in 2016.[/one_half]

Our Travels

We visited Thailand and Cambodia as part of our honeymoon. We hiked over mountains, cycled around an island, washed elephants, rode a plane with a propeller, and made new friends in restaurants and minibuses. Check out all the ways we got around below. Back home we found time to travel too. We both spent time in Austin TX for work. Jessi visited her sister Katie in New London Connecticut and Zach went to New Jersey with work. We participated in chalk festivals in Georgia, Kentucky, and Florida. We spent the end of December and New Years Eve in New York City exploring and seeing family and friends.

Milestones

We got married

May 2, 2015

Zach got a new job!

He finally joined agency life.

We fostered 5 doxies

all adopted through DREAM Dachshund Rescue

A note from Daphne

Do you know how many Daphnes fit into a home? Just one. But I has a lot of friends. This year we’ve had five friends stay with us: Wilbur, Graham, Chauncey, Gambit, and now Willis. They’ve been fun to play with because Maxwell doesn’t like to do back-flips anymore. Today I saw a squirrel. Also, I saw a hawk. That was neat. I love being with my family and chasing balls, do you know what I mean? I can’t wait for the holidays and seeing everyone. -love Daphne

Don’t forget to follow Daphne on her blog, Modoxie.com. Also find her on Facebook and Twitter @abarkingdaphne.

25 Dec ’15
Marietta Chalktoberfest 2015

I was featured in the news piece with Fox 5’s Paul Millikan – Skip to 2:54 for Zach and I chalking the Chalktoberfest Logo!

12 Oct ’15
Happy Howl-O-Weenie!!!

Dachshunds, weenie dogs, teckel, hot dog puppies! You name it we got it at Howl-o-weenie! Dream Rescue of Atlanta is a dog rescue group focused in saving lives of dachshunds everywhere. They run solely on foster care and do not have a facility. This allows them to help with overcrowding in animal shelters and humane societies. It is overcrowding that leads to the unnecessary euthanasia of perfectly healthy and loving furry friends. There are many homeless doxies in the southeast. Dream even has to turn some of them away due to lack of resources. This is so sad and the exact reason it is so important to support them.

But, this post is not meant to be preachy. I want to share with you the good that can come out of a support system like DREAM Rescue and show you how I use my talents to do what I can to bring awareness. I want to encourage you to do the same. I am a firm believer that we all have a purpose and can help in some little way. Even if helping dogs in need is not your passion, maybe you want to make a child with cancer smile, donate to the homeless, or help to clean our world by picking up trash or recycling. You can use what you have to make the world a wonderful place for yourself and those who will follow in your footsteps.

Anyways, back to Howl-O-Weenie! With Halloween right around the corner, we do what we can to bring our doxie lovers out to support this cause. Howl-O-Weenie is a very large event and is an opportunity to have fun while spreading awareness. This year I volunteered to create the t-shirt design. They did so well and sold out at the event very quickly! They also put my design on a glass to sell beer at the event. It was such a fun time! Here are the highlights…

DREAM Rescue wanted a wordle for the t-shirt design and asked me to make it. First I gathered a list of words that described our short legged friends and I sketched it out into the shape of a dachshund.

In Adobe Illustrator I was able to use my wacom tablet to trace over my sketch. The design had original hand drawn words as well as typed font.

I am quite pleased to see how it turned out. I am glad I was able to create something that would bring joy to people as well as awareness for DREAM. Not to mention all the money that these shirts raised for the cause.

I did a small sample chalk drawing. I kept it short and sweet because we all know Howl-o-Weenie is a very busy day!

And now for our favorite part, the costume contest!! Zach slaved away making Angry Bird Costumes for Daphne and Maxwell. Our adult costumes were store bought.

We won the costume contest!!

Maxwell is our foster dog. This means that we keep him until he gets adopted. If you want to know more about him visit his pet finder profile.

Our #doxieposse twitter friends were there as the Three Doxie-teers! Browse more photos of costumes from Howl-O-Weenie!

The events of the day also included a dachshund race, costume contest, hot dog eating contest, face licking contest and a howling contest. There were venders and dogs for adoption. Food and beer was also for sale. It was such a wonderful time!

Maxwell and Daphne showed their twitter friend Reagan how to climb a mountain!

The pups all were sooooo tired by the end of the day!!

5 Oct ’13
Facebook and Google!

When we went to San Francisco this summer we had the pleasure of touring the Facebook Headquarters and the Downtown Google Campus. Our friend Peter is an application engineer at Facebook. He is so talented and smart. He really is enjoying Cali life and shared his workplace with us. Facebook is like Disney World. That is all it can be compared to that I am familiar with. When you enter there is a really long street in the middle that has buildings on all sides. Some have garage doors to let a little air in; you know in case your meeting gets a little stuffy! There are bicycles that you can grab and just bike from one end to the other. It was such an amazing place. Check out my photos!

They have kitchens in every building with fridges full of anything you could possibly want! I was overjoyed that they had Babybels!! Other items included packs of gum, Starbucks coffee drinks, red bulls, and chips of all kinds. It was paradise! They also had vending machines with mouses and keyboards and batteries. All free for employees!

They have treadmill desks!! Literally a desk that you can exercise at! I think this is brilliant!

This meeting room is called “Enders Game” based off an Orson Scott Card novel. I love how colorful the meeting rooms were.

There was Facebook art on all the walls and they had little lobbies with lounges for relaxing.

This is us in the central road/walkway. This runs down the middle with eateries and shopping! You can grab a bike and ride too. We did that and it was so fun!

This is Zach and I in front of the Facebook sign, being total tourists!

We also traveled downtown to the Google campus! This is the view of the bay bridge from the patio.

11 Aug ’13